sunnuntai 15. tammikuuta 2012

In the bush and gear testing

On christmas time I decided to check my small woods property if there was any damage by the storm that run over second christmas day. Wind was so strong that big spruce from neighbour side fell on top of my woodshed that I just built year ago.

So there was no damage on my land only one tree was fallen cutting logging road which leads to area. I was prepared for that and had chainsaw on trunk of my car so I could continue fast.

I have been planning to build kota-shelter and fireplace to make permanent camp on area and later cabin of some kind. So I started wandering area to look good spot for camp and when found started to look fallen trees to make poles for shelter and carry stones for fireplace. There I also had chance to test out old famous finnish "war knife" Sissipuukko m95 (known as "Ranger knife" in english), Sissipuukko is designed by J.P.Peltonen and these are made together with Fiskars.

Sissipuukko m95 is general purpose knife designed for army and outdoors professional use. It have around 5mm thick and 15cm long blade. Because it´s wedgelike profile blade don´t feel like thick at all but it splits very well when batoning firewood. Carbon steel blade have coated with somekind of teflon coating to prevent rust. Knives handle is rubber that is just molded over tang.
Sheath is made of thick leather and it have very unique rubber roll which secures knife in it´s place in sheath.

I have thought to prepare lunch on woods, but wind was still very strong so I ended up to make my fire on small hole to get cover from strong wind. It was getting dark already so I have to act fast. I took small fallen halfly wet small 6-7cm diameter tree, sectioned and batoned it for firewood. It was too damp so I needed something more dry stuff also. I collected some lower dead branches of spruce trees. Those was not completely dry neither.
After that I prepared my fire place on bottom of hole by adding some sand there with small folding showel I got from my buddy sometime ago. I haven´t really used it before that. Showel was surprisingly sturdy and worked well for small digging tasks. I also noticed that inside of the hollow handle there´s space for some essential small items if you want to, toilet paper for example?
I started to prepare my fire and noticed that it was still a bit too windy so I grabbed my poncho from backpack and build a bit of extra cover with that and few meters of iron wire I always carry with me. Now I had good means for cooking so I whittlet some tiny fuzzies with my knife and prepared bunches of spruce twigs nearby. It took quite long while that I got fire going well enough and got enough coals and heat that even bit wet wood will start to burn.

I have prepared very simple meal for me: can of peasoup, rye bread, some xmas ham leftovers with mustard. Now I also had chance to test brand new Zebra pot (got it xmas gift from a friend), smallest 10cm diameter and I found it just good size for one man´s soup. I have used bigger 14cm diameter pot for years so I knew what to expect. Those pots are great for cooking over fire and being stainless steel will last forever and won´t contaminate your food at all like aluminum can do (I don´t consider that so serious anyway). After forawhile I had nice hot soup ready to eat. It´s incredible how delicious simple food like that can be in the bush when you feel a bit cold and make a lot of effort to get your food heated. So I happily enjoyed my meal while watching stars and slowly dying fire. After last red coals turned black I packed my stuff, poured water on my fireplace and threw some sand and soil on top of it to hide black remains of my cooking fire. Time to head back to the logging road and car. Moments like that alone in woods just with your own thoughts staring fire, sounds of nature surrounding makes great things for my head after all christmas hassle and busy family life.

6 kommenttia:

Nice story man, i like when the reviews and gear talk are smoothly hidden along the story itself.

I have the Sissipuukko too and i quite like it although i have been taken away from it with all the handmade ones. But hey, ill be doing one Sissipuukko thinggy in my blog very soon too, rest assured .

Have you seen whats the tang like inside the handle ? its guite massive bomb proof piece of steel indeed, i have to find a photo of it.

I´ve heard some whining about its overall finish,compared to its price but i think that you wont get any finnish knife that is so durable for that price. And as its originally intended for military use, it sure does not have to be a showcase item. And since theres no engravings and nonsense, you dont have to protect yuou knife nor its sheath from scratches etc. The ever-so-popular grind/sharpening topics are more up to personal preferences and anyone can sharpen their knives to best angles and polish the edges till the end of the world.

Thats about the only Finnish knife that will stand more than moderate batoning as well, without any worries.

Plus the sheath...its very easy to strap upside down in to your bacpacks shoulder straps, which is a good solution for many who suffer from knife & sheath carry while using a backpack with belt, as often the knife jams between the trousers belt and the pack belt, and thats not comfortable. But with a Sissipuukko attached to packs stap, its always easy to take and use it, compared to taking the pack off and opening it and searching teh knife from the inside of pack.This is still quite rarely seen trick, but very useful. Thanks to the rubber washers between the sheath seams, the knife wont come out from the sheath even if you jump. But when pulled, it comes smoothly. Great small detail, and executed in durable way, as is the sheath itself.

Sissipuukko just might well be ideal knife for people looking for just one knife, as even its very rugged, its still quite puukko-like, especially the "height " of blade, thats NOT like in RC3 and similar knives. With sissipuukko you can gut, chop, slash, baton and so on, plus whittle All the vital works that outdoorsman has to do out there. All this for that price.....you just cant complain.

Buy the way, the blades coating, its oxidized / parkerized, just as are assault rifles etc, and it will come off slowly but hey, carbon steel knives do, eventualy IF they arent used. Drip off food grade oil after a wipe will do the trick too, to prevent it from rust if the knife is to be left un-used for a good while.

That iPood, the absolutely the best gadget with intentional "i" as the first letter. Its made out of hardened airplane grade aluminium (7075 i think). And yes, its meant for digging a hole to poop in but offcourse, its one hellova good small shovel for any task. Stuck in some toilet paper, and a small bic lighter and you can burn the poopaper after the pressure release.

And also, i really REALLY liked to read that you try to cover the marks of your campfire.I rather see just one stone ring for fire in the areas rather than multiple spreaded fire marks here and there. Good job.

Hey Perkunas, did somebody whine about the finish of the sissipuukko? ;) Like the uneven edge grind? I wouldn't really call a valid criticism whining, considering how important the edge of the knife is. I would think that on a knife of that price, they would make a little more effort to put on an even edge grind. The rest of the knife is really well made, so I think it deserves a good edge grind as well. Who knows, maybe it was only the one I saw in person that didn't look great.